High efficiency Cu₂ZnSnSe₄ solar cells with a TiN diffusion barrier on the molybdenum bottom contact

We report on the structural properties and device results of Cu 2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) solar cells deposited using a vacuum deposition process on glass substrates coated with a molybdenum bottom electrode. Compared to similarly-prepared pure sulfide Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) devices, CZTSe devices exhibit a much thicker interfacial MoSe2 reaction layer. This poses a serious problem in achieving high efficiency CZTSe solar cellsan overall reverse correlation between device performance and MoSe 2 thickness is observed. We show that the interfacial MoSe 2 formation can be controlled by the use of thin TiN diffusion barriers. Using this process we demonstrate a CZTSe device with 8.9% efficiency. © 2012 IEEE.